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Iolla Sanitariums
The Iolla Sanitariums are a series of medical facilities located in the Iolla Cliffs of southeastern House Schneeplestein, Duilintinn. They are managed by the Lifeworker Institute. History People from other houses send their ill to House Schneeplestein for a variety of reasons- after all, that’s where the best doctors in the kingdom are- but especially when their loved one needs constant care in order to recover or, heaven forbid, be comfortable in their final days. Not only is House Schneeplestein full of doctors, but the environment itself is good for recovery. The salt in the air along the main coastline and the clear mountain air of the foothills and cliffs to the south are great places for people to visit and recover from various illnesses. None of the other houses have a combination quite like this; House Jameson is too rainy, House Marvin is too humid and low-altitude, House Jackie is too hot and just plain dry, and House Brody’s three regions are basically all of the above (south-west is hot and dry, north is rainy, and east is humid saltwater wetlands where no one can really live anyway). So House Schneeplestein is definitely the place to go when the doctor recommends some “different air." Of course, the main draw is the doctors. If the doctors of House Schneeplestein can’t save you, no one will, but by God they’ll try their hardest and make sure you’re in as little pain as possible. To care for such patients, doctors even set up practices down in the Southern Mountains, further from the hustle and bustle of Fionport. Many of these locations have evolved into tiny villages that could be compared to modern day resorts or historical sanitariums (not to be confused with sanatoriums, aka the setting of every hospital horror movie/game ever). Depending on the location, a single doctor or a group of doctors will care for a small group of patients. Some of these patients will only visit for a short time, while others who stay for the rest of their lives, however long that implies. Residents While there are also hospitals in House Schneeplestein's capital of Fionport (located along the coast of Loch Domhainn), but if it becomes clear that the patient will require constant care for a long period of time, they are sent to these small, isolated sanitariums. These small patient settlements never reach populations over 100, and most have no more than 25-50 patient residents at a time. All but two are designed to house patients of all ages; one specifically cares for children and another is exclusive to the elderly. Experimental Treatments Verified scholars and doctors with multiple credentials and letters of recommendation from the Lifeworker Institute can visit these places and ask for volunteers for experimental treatments among the terminally or chronically ill. Recently, Watchers in Iolla Beacon Outpost have also been granted permission to conduct similar research, so long as they work alongside and under the supervision of one of these vetted medical experts. Architecture and Layout While some of the Iolla Sanitariums were built from the remains of Feadhainn Era architecture, the vast majority were built specifically for their modern-day purpose. This hospice in France (c. 1400) gives you a pretty good idea of what I imagined the medical facilities for the terminally or chronically ill in the Iolla Cliffs to look like. These places are a place of rest and comfort for people who need constant care, so I like how the entire facility is a single, interconnected building. Granted, the tiles and cross-lattice architecture feels more like House Jameson’s architectural style than House Schneeplestein’s, but in a way, that kinda works. The Iolla Cliffs are directly adjacent to the eastern parts of House Jameson and within a few day’s journey of Noefrach, so it makes sense that there’d be some cultural overlap like this. Tumblr user @theshapeshifter100 (who took these photographs) also toured the inside of the hospice, with these observations: * “Right, this is part of the largest ward, free beds, curtains on both sides so that private procedures could be done, bed warming pans. Fireplace at the end and about thirty beds lining the walls. Tables along the middle for meals (if the patients could leave the bed).” * “This also in a more private ward you could pay for. Fewer beds, similar rooms for the elderly.” * “There was also a room with large windows and a low ceiling for the gravely ill, basically the ones who weren’t going to make it. Lower ceiling made it easier to the heat the room, basic idea was that their final days were comfortable. * “I am under the impression there was also a ward for the ‘frantic and distressed’ (mentally ill), just in a different building.” * “Different sections of the hospital had their own equipment, which was engraved with the symbol/initials of that section so there wouldn’t be any mix ups.” This fits what I imagined when first developing the idea for the Iolla Sanitariums, that there’d be different facilities for different types of treatment. At the time, I said there would be at least one for the extremely elderly (i.e. a nursing home) and one for children (i.e. a pediatric hospital). Since then, I’ve also mentioned the possibility of at least one facility specifically for mental illness patients. I’m torn about whether there are or aren’t separate sanitariums for terminally ill and chronically ill patients. On one hand, those are two different problems. Terminally ill patients are trying to live comfortably before the end, sometimes while also trying to delay that end for as long as possible. Chronically ill patients don’t have that threat of death hanging over them, but other than that… the goal is still to help them live a comfortable, fulfilling life despite their health problems. My internal debate is whether intermingling the two would help or hurt morale among the patients and if there is even any treatment overlap between terminal illnesses and chronic illnesses in the first place.